Benjamin wexler



B. WEXLER.

LATCH FOR IELEVATOR nouns. AP PLICAT|0N FILED SEPT. 9. I9l5.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

Inventor:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN WEXLER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO THE PEELLE COMPANY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LATCH FOR ELEVATOR-DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN WEXLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and btate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latches for Elevator-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in latches for elevator doors and the object of my invention is to provide a new and improved latch or looking means for elevator shaft doors, which is thrown out of action at each door when the elevator car platform arrives at the level of the floor to which said latch pertains and which latch locks all doors in such manner that when the elevator car platform is not at the level of the floor to which the door pertains, the door cannot be opened to such an extent as to permit persons to fall through the opening into the shaft, but permits any door at any time, to be opened to such an extent that a person outside of the shaft and on any one of the floors through which the shaft passes, can extend an arm through the opening formed by the partly opened doors into the shaft to grasp the stopping and starting rope or like contrivance to start the car up or down, to the floor at which the said person stands, which attachment is simple in construction, strong and durable, can be applied on old elevators at well as on such just being constructed and installed and requires no change in the doors and can be applied on manually closed doors as well as on self closing doors.

In the accompanying drawings in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures Figure 1 is an elevation of an elevator doorway havingan upper and lower door section provided with my improved latch, the closed position of the doors being indicated in dotted lines. a

, Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same showing the elevator car with its platform at the level of the floor pertaining to said door.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic detail view of one construction of the latch.

Fig. 4 is a modification.

The door opening 1 leads to a loft or roomhaving the floor 2 which is on the same i levelwith the sill of saiddoor opening. The

door opening can be closed by two vertically sliding door sections, an upper door section 3 and a lower door section 4, which sections are connected in the conventional way by ropes, cables or chains 5 passed over pulleys 6 secured to the vertical guides 7 on which the door sections slide. When the doors are so connected they move simultaneously and when the lower door is raised the upper door is lowered and when the upper door is raised-the lower door is lowered. WVhen the doors are equally balanced, they must be closed manually, that is to say either the upper door must be pulled downward or the lower door lifted, but in many cases the upper door is overweighted so that as soon as the doors are released from a suitable holding catch, they close automatically, as the upper door moves downward under its greater weight and thereby lifts the lower door section. The lower door section 4 is usually provided on its upper edge with a cross bar 8 which extends beyond the side edges of the lower door section and to the ends of which the cables, ropes or chains 5 are attached. To the side frame a latch lever 10 is pivoted at 11 in such a manner that its upper end can extend into the pathway of one end of the top cross bar 8 of the lower door section. In a construction adapted for doors which are not self closing, that is to say, if the upper door is not overweighted and thus the doors must be closed manually, the following construction is used.

The lower end of this latch lever 10 is provided with a longitudinal slot 12 into which a pin 13 passes from the up er end of a lever 14 likewise pivoted to t e side frame at 15 and from the lower end of the lever 14 a head 16 projects which normally is in the vertical path of a cam piece 17 projecting from a hanger 18 projecting downward from the platform 19 of the elevator car, the hanger 18 and the head 16 on the lower end of the lever 14 being so positioned that when the elevator ear platform is in alinement with the floor 2, the cam 17, acting on the head 16 forces the lower end of the lever 14 to the right whereby the upper end of the lever '14 is moved to the left and in turn swings the upper end of the lever 10 to the right and out of the path of the projecting end of the descending cross bar 8, so that the doors can now be opened and the cross bar 8 moved downward, as is necessary in so opening the doors. The latch levers 14 and 10 are held in these positions as long as the cam 17 on the hanger 18 of the .car platform bears against the head 16 and holds the same pressed to the right against the tension of the spring 20. As soon as the car moves upward or downward from the floor, the cam 17 releases the head 16 permitting the spring 20 to force the lower endof the lever to the left, that is toward the elevator shaft, thus automatically bringing the lever 10 into locking position. If accidentallythe doors have not been closed when the car begins to move up or down and the cross bar 8 is below the upper end of the latch lever 10, the doors can be closed nevertheless, as the rising cross bar 8 striking the inner edge of the latch lever 10 pushes the same to one side until the crossbar '8 has passed above the upper end of the latch lever. When the bar 8 passesthe upper end of the latch lever 10, thesame snaps outward under the action of the spring-20 and thus prevents lowering the door.

If thus: at any time the elevator car platform is'not at any of the'floors of the building and an attempt is made to open any shaft door, this is prevented as the upper end 'of' the latch 10prevents forcing the cross bar 8 downward. However, in many cases it is desirable that the door should be opened part way to permit of reaching from the outside of the elevator shaft into the shaftfor-the purpose of grasping thestartingrrope. For this purpose the latch bar 10 is made of such length that its upper end is about three or four inches, more or less, below the bottom. edge of the'cross bar 8 when the doors are closed. The lower door can thus be moved downward three or-four inches and th upper door moved upward correspondingly without interferenceof the latch bar 10 andthis distance is suificientto permit passing an arm from the room into the elevator shaft to grasp the-starting rope, butat thesame time the latch bar 10 prevents opening the door any farther :than' about six or'eight inches because ifyan attempt ismade'to depress the lower door more than three inches,its cross bar 8'encounters the upper end of'the latch bar 10., When'the elevator car platform stops -at"a floor the latch bar '10 at the correspondingfloor is withdrawn so as not to interfere with opening the doors completely as" has been explained.

so far: "I have only described. my attachment as applied on doors which are to be" closed manuallyr Self closing: doors are locked in position when'open'edand this locking; means for locking them in? open position: can only operate when the car platform is at the floor pertaining to the door whichisto be opened as at all other times this locking mechanism does not work.

For self closing doors a beveled latch 21 is mounted to slide in the upper end of the lever 14. This latch at its inner. endearries the pin 33. A spring 22 acts on the latch and serves to hold the same projected from the left hand edge of the lever 14. When the cam 17 on the elevator" car plat fornrarrive's at the head 16 and 'forces'the sa1ne.-in-ward-, the upper end of' the lever 14 isforced to the left 'and the' beveled latch 21 is broughtin'to the path of the descend and over the upper edge of the bar 8 thus locking'the lower door in lowered position and the upper doorin' raised position. The

doors remain in these-positions but as soon as the elevator car moves up or down and thecam 17 is moved belowor above the head 16 on the" lower end of the lever 14, the latch .21 is moved to. theri'ght whereby the =bar8 is released an'd is moved upward with -the lower door under the action of the'heavier upperdoor." The rising bar'8 presses the latch bar 10 to one side until the bar 8 is abovethe upper'end of thelatch bar 10 whereupon the-latter snaps outward under the action of 'the spring 2O so' that" the upper end of theflatc'h barisbeneath the crossbar '8 and can prevent opening the doors any-farther than the predeter mined distances, unless the elevator can plaform is on'-' a levelwith'the floor 'pertain'-' ing to said door. Theplength of'the latch bar10 must be'suclr that its upper end is beneath the "bottom edge of'the crossbar" 8 when the doors are closed a distance about equal to 'one half of the distance'th'at the doors are to be opened beforethey areiautomatically checked when the elevatorl car platform is not" at the floor pertaining'to said door;

Having described my invention' w hat'rl claim as new and desire tosecureby Letters- Patent is 1. Alatch'for elevator doors composed'of a plurality'of sections completelyc'losin' a door opening and simultaneously movable'in opposite directions in opening 'and closing the door, consisting of alever pivoted in termediate the ends thereofwithin the-'elevatorshaft and having oneend thereof-adjacent but spaced away from the meeting line of: the two door sections when I closed,

actuating means for said lever mounted within said shaft adjacent the sill of a door opening, a spring acting to normally thrust said latch lever in the path of movement of one of said door sections and said actuating means in the path of an elevator car, an abutment on one of said door sections adapted to operatively engage said latch lever, said abutment being spaced from said lever when the doors are entirely closed, and means carried by an elevator car adapted to cooperate with said actuating means and actuate said latch lever in a manner to Withdraw it from the path of the door whereby when no car is at a floor the doors may be opened to a limited extent only and when a car is at a floor the doors may be opened to their full extent.

2. A latch for elevator doors composed of a plurality of sections completely closing a door opening and simultaneonsly movable in opposite directions in opening and closing the door, consisting of a lever pivoted intermediate the ends thereof within the elevator shaft and having one end thereof adjacent but spaced away from the meeting line of the two door sections when closed, an actuating lever mounted within said shaft adjacent the sill of the door opening, a pivotal lost motion connection between one end of said latch lever and one end of said actuating lever, a contact member can ried by the other end of said actuating lever and projecting within the elevator shaft in the path of the elevator car, a spring acting upon said actuating lever whereby said contact will be normally thrust within said car and the free end of said latch lever will be normally thrust in the path of move ment of one of said door sections, an abutment on one of said door sections adapted to operatively engage said latch lever, said abutiinent being spaced from said lever when the doors are entirely closed, and means carried by an elevator car adapted to cooperate with said contact member and actuate said actuating and said latch levers in a manner to withdraw said latch lever from the path of the door whereby when no car is at a floor the doors may be opened to a limited extent only and when a car is at a floor the doors may be opened to their full extent.

3. A latch for elevator doors composed of a plurality of sections completely closing a door opening and simultaneously movable in opposite directions in opening and closing the door, consisting of a lever pivoted intermediate the ends thereof within the elevator shaft and having one end thereof adjacent but spaced away from the meeting line of the two door sections when closed, an actuating lever mounted within said shaft adjacent the sill of the door opening, a pivotal lost motion connection between one end of said latch lever and one end of said actuating lever, a contact member carried by the other end of said actuating lever and projecting within the elevator shaft in the path of the elevator car, a spring acting upon said actuating lever whereby said contact will be normally thrust within said car and the free end of said latch lever will be normally thrust in the path of movement of one of said door sections, an abutment on one of said door sections adapted i to operatively engage said latch lever, said abutment being spaced from said lever when the doors are entirely closed, a spring latch member carried by said actuating lever and adapted to be projected in the path of the door when in the open position and means carried by an elevator car adapted to cooperate with said contact member and actuate said actuating and said latch levers in a manner to withdraw said latch lever from the path of the door whereby when no car is at a floor the doors may be opened to a limited extent only and when a car is at a floor the doors may be opened to their full extent.

Signed at New York city, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York this 23 day of February, A. D. 1915.

BENJAMIN WEXL-ER.

Witnesses WILLIAM Trims, TIMOTHY W. ENGELLSE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G, 

